Lovebirds
by winterhats
Summary: People tend to watch. HaruTaka, one-shot.


_This is literally a mess because I improvised it all. I don't even know what this was supposed to be. And lately I'm writting way too much and my fics end up being obnoxiously long.  
Hah, I write too much about Takane being dumb, don't I?_

 _Kagerou Project belongs to Jin, this is sappy as always and slightly more ridiculous than usual.  
_

* * *

Technically, she did _not_ spy. Takane just happened to be around when some girls were babbling, and no one could blame her for getting curious as soon as she overheard them mentioning _the two students of the special needs class_. In the first place, she didn't believe anyone even knew them, or recognized them as the _sick kids_ out of the crowd that are the students, so it was actually _normal_ getting curious.

"Are you sure?" a girl with a deep tone of voice spoke up, and by just hearing her, Takane knew she was _not_ a tiny girl. "I don't know… she's is always yelling at him, so…"

"Maybe she does it to cover something up?" the one who started argued further, almost sounding defensive. "Come on… maybe in private she acts different? Haven't you seen how nice he is to her?"

"Oh, I'm with you!" Takane jumped for a moment after hearing a new voice, one a little too shrilly to her liking. "Because I once saw them together in the streets!"

Frowning, Takane bit her lip. It was so stupid, so, so stupid. Not what the girl has said, but what she meant. _Just because_ two classmates hang out outside school doesn't automatically make them a couple… right? Right.  
Right now, she was just (mentally) dealing with stupid teenagers' brains, full of deductions of things that really don't concern them, and that they totally _shouldn't_ care about. Basically, she was overhearing dumb gossips. About herself. And as those girls shouldn't care about that sort of thing, Takane shouldn't be listening to it. But, as embarrassing as it was to admit it, she cared. She cared, and wanted to hear what they had to say.

"I'm still not convinced," the scary voiced girl talked again. "She's way too… mean."

 _Oh, shut up._

"But it's not that! Have you seen them at lunch? They _feed_ each other!"

 _Is that a weird thing to do…?_

"And they're always standing really close to each other…!"

"Aren't you two getting too much into it?" if it wasn't because this one had called her _mean_ , Takane'd be thanking her for wanting to make her friends shut up. "Even if they _do_ seem to be together, I don't…"

"Then you agree with us?"

"No, just listen to me."

"But it's not just us! Everyone does!"

 _Who's everyone?!_

"Or… at least half of our classroom?"

 _That's somehow a relief– Wait, no, it's not._

"Tateyama-chan is their friend, right? Maybe we could ask her…"

"But what if she tells them we asked?"

"I don't think she would…"

"But what if Ayano-chan tells Kisaragi and then Kisaragi tells them? I totally don't trust that boy."

They were three of Ayano and Shintaro's classmates. For some reason, that was good to know, but it was still frustrating. If they _do_ ask Ayano, it'd be a problem, because even if that girl is probably a literal angel, Takane wouldn't be surprised if she lied to answer a question like that. Ayano isn't against 'white lies', after all, since she'd do even the most ridiculous thing to supposedly help Takane with her not-so-platonic feelings towards Haruka.

"Aw… I'd really like to know though," she was starting to hate the voice of the third one. "…But what do you think they do when they're alone at the classroom?!"

Takane left. She didn't want to hear anymore if the conversation was going that way, and hopefully, they stopped talking about it. _Hopefully._  
By the time she had already ran away from dumb teenagers' talk, the classroom's door slid open before she could open it herself, her eyes meeting Haruka's cheerful ones.

"Ah, Takane!" he exclaimed, and she felt something in her stomach stir. "I was about to go and look for you."

"Don't leave the classroom by yourself," was all she said, as she walked in. _Head down, eyes on the floor, pressed lips, sit down, grab the headphones, actually listen to music, and do not talk to Haruka_. Simple intructions, by Takane's brain. But as always, she didn't listen to herself. Takane lost the track of her own actions at the _sit down_ step. Haruka was talking to her and she was barely answering, lacking her fierce tone.

And even if Takane thinks Haruka puts a lot of effort into trying to get people to think he's an idiot, he's not, and had noticed her a little off.

"Is everything alright?" he asked, and she heard the concern in his voice, but Haruka kept the smile on his face as he drew lines on a clean page of his sketchbook. "You seem lost."

"I'm fine," Takane rushed to reply, hating herself because of it. "I'm probably just tired."

Haruka made a noise between his closed lips, presumably glad to hear her say so, but probably not entirely convinced. Although he didn't insist, he shot her a smile, and Takane almost heard him mentally telling her _'just keeping an eye out for you.'_ She isn't the only worrywart there, after all.

"Hello, my youthful students!" Kenjirou basically yelled, as the door slid open, being slammed back to close. He was always like that by that time of the morning, probably the coffee was one to blame. Because it just couldn't _be_ that a person as boring as that man can change so much in just fifteen minutes of break. "Let's march for victory!"

Kenjirou walked in, awfully singing an awful song in an awfully weird way of walking, and Takane wasn't really sure what they were supposed to be marching to, but neither Haruka or herself had stood up to do so. Haruka seemed confused as well, but they were both used to their teacher's weird behaviour.

And becoming serious again, Kenjirou started the lesson, although Takane wasn't paying attention. For the usual reasons. Too boring. Too sleepy. Too tired. Too busy looking at Haruka to even think properly.

The same questions flew around in her mind, the ones she's been asking to herself ever since first meeting Haruka. Or to be exact, ever since she realized how nice he is.  
A first friend, it may be _common_ to feel weird around the friend who was slowly becoming the most close person to her. But, normally, those feelings would fade away as the time go by, and she would start feeling more comfortable around him. It should get to a point where the blushing, faster heart beat and clammy hands stop happening, right? Yeah? Sure, it wasn't as severe as before, but she still gets flustered when he's too close, and that's probably not normal.

Quietly sighing, and still not paying attention to Kenjirou, she looked outside the window, where everything looked exactly the same as it did yesterday, and the day before yesterday, and so on. The thought of looking at something she looks at _everyday_ could get her to shift her gaze back at Haruka, whom just as herself, wasn't taking notes. But he was, at the very least, pretending to listen– or listening for real. Takane couldn't tell, but she was suddenly hit by the realization that Haruka is nothing, _nothing_ like handsome. She'd never quite describe him like that, even if he does is good-looking.

Takane tried to push the unwanted thoughts out of her mind, but she couldn't. She suddenly felt an inane need of yelling at the three girls of before. But as she couldn't do that, Takane, instead, mentally cursed them, for putting ideas into her mind and making things weird for her– again, it wasn't her fault that the conversation had caught her attention. It could happen to anyone, okay?

Because, usually, the thoughts of that kind are quickly ignored by her, but now Takane was pausing into each one and _overthinking_ them through. And that was such a bad thing if all of them are about Haruka.

"Takane," Kenjirou's glacial voice calling her made Takane jump a little, but she felt weirdly relieved. "That was the third time I called you. Can you please stop staring at Haruka and open your textbook?"

"I wasn't–!" her first reflex was, of course, to deny Kenjirou's accusation, but as soon as Takane saw Haruka's sheepish smile and that really dumb blush on his cheeks, the words died back in her throat. The thought of Haruka not being handsome tormented her again. _Cute_ is definitely the right word to describe his appearance. In silent, she opened her textbook.

* * *

She was suddenly aware of Ayano and Shintaro thinking how odd it is. Takane's never paid attention to Shintaro's awkward glares and Ayano's hidden giggles from the first times they had lunch together. By now, they were used to it, so they don't look at them in any particular way. But _still_ , Takane realized how they had been thinking and that was getting into her.

Her chopsticks were inside Haruka's mouth now, and that hadn't bothered her until now. She cared really little about indirectly sharing spit, since she has never thought of it, but _Ayano and Shintaro_ are there, pausing the conversation to watch how she fed the boy, and how he also offered some of his food to her too, _and how_ he started whining when she rejected it.

"Takane, _pleaaaaaseee_ ," Haruka swung the chopsticks, holding tamagoyaki, from a side to the other, in front of her face. "It's not fair if you give me of your food and I don't give you of mine…"

"Stop moving it, dumbass! You're going to drop it!" she argued, _being aware of gazes_. The gazes of Ayano and Shintaro, and of other schoolmates also having lunch on the roof. There wasn't _a lot_ of people paying attention to Haruka still insisting, but as little as the amount is, people is people, and _they were watching_.

"Would you eat it if it's an airplane?" Haruka asked, his eyes suddenly lighting up. And the fact he looked so happy about it made Takane feel worse because she was going to deny it.

"Haruka–" but he didn't let her even finish, and he shoved inside her mouth the food, taking advantage since it was open to say _no_ again. Takane rushed to munch and swallow, so she could yell at him, but she wasn't quick enough and Haruka was already cheering to celebrate that she ate of his food. So once she was able to talk, flustered, Takane yelled. Except that she didn't _really_ yell– that could get _people_ 's attention. "You're such an idiot!"

"Takane-san, are you okay?" Ayano suddenly asked, and Takane couldn't help but think it was a weird question at the moment.

"W – why do you ask…?" she tried to sound a little relaxed, but she just couldn't focus into calming down if people's eyes were still on them.

"Well, you two always feed each other and you never start whining because of it," Shintaro replied instead of Ayano, but she seemed to agree as she nodded. "What's gotten into you?"

As if there wasn't enough awareness of actions for the day, the reality hit her again, realizing that Haruka's all over her _all the time_. And, to be honest, Takane's used to it, and had stopped telling him to get off, eventually getting to the point in which it stopped being uncomfortable.

"Nothing," she said, trying to keep looking casual. It was probably better if she didn't make them 'suspect' anything about her, because it'd just be a problem.

After that though, Ayano and Shintaro kept giving her these looks until they went to their separate ways of classrooms. They were _inquisitive_ looks, and sometimes even sly ones from Ayano, and it made it seem like she knew something Takane hadn't realized. On the other hand, Haruka was, for not the first time, oblivious to all that.

* * *

Takane didn't know exactly what they talked about. She just knew that people like talking about the supposed ' _romance_ ' between the sick kids. It wasn't that it started now, those looks and rumors had _always_ been there and, to be honest, it was better when she didn't know about those things. The fact that there is always at least one pair of eyes following them whenever they get out of their classroom made her feel awfully uncomfortable.

"It's like we can't get to breath without them looking," Takane whispered, mostly to herself, but Haruka unnecessarily heard her talking between her teeth.

"Who?" he raised his eyebrows, obviously wanting to know what she found so irritating.

The girl was quiet for a moment, cursing herself for having thought out loud. But she remembered his demeanour, and that she could easily change the subject. And so, Takane shrugged it off, as if she was only babbling.

"Ah, nothing," she hurried to grab her notebooks and shove them into her bag, glad about Kenjirou not being there. He'd clearly notice her acting weird, and he probably would make her stay after class to talk her about hormones again.

Everything's just fine. All she has to do is to pretend she never heard those girls, and just ignore when people look at them. It was easy.

Except that, no, everything's not fine. Her stomach was in knots as she desperately tried to avoid thinking about it, but she can't. She wasn't sure what they were anymore, but Takane had no intention of ever bringing it up.

 _Could it be, maybe, that he feels the same…?_

"Ah! Takane, look!" Haruka suddenly spoke up, getting her out of her almost ridiculous trance. He pointed at the window, smiling widely. "Isn't the sunset beautiful today?"

Takane didn't look outside. She intended to, but her eyes got stuck on the boy when they tried to see past him. Her lips twitched, and she wasn't sure what she exactly wanted to say.

 _Did you know that people talk about us around the school? Did you know that usually, friends don't feed each other? Did you know that you aren't handsome, you're actually cute, really cute? Did you know that thanks to you, my head is fuzzy all the time?_

"Yeah, it's pretty."

Her actual reply came out like that without even thinking, and Takane was glad with it, although she couldn't help feeling a little unsatisfied. Somehow, she still wanted to tell him all that.

Even if they stay only as friends, she'll follow him anywhere, and Takane was happy to think _(know)_ that Haruka'll do the same. And when _that_ realization hit her, she understood why everyone kept mistaking them for a couple.

Rarely, she didn't try to avoid the small giggle that was able to escape through her lips, drawing Haruka's attention.

"What's funny, Takane?"

"No, nothing," the girl hung her bag around one of her shoulders, shaking her head as a sudden bright red painted her cheeks. Takane started walking, ignoring Haruka's whines asking her to wait for him, and she stopped her feet once she was in front of the door. "Hey, Haruka."

"Mhm?" Haruka had hurried up and messily shoved in all his things, actually thinking she was going to leave without him. When he was done, the boy turned around to see her reaching out one of her arms, still standing backwards at him. "What is it, Takane?"

It feels like everytime he says her name, she falls in love with him all over again.

"Let's…" Takane couldn't bring herself to say it, but she _wanted_ to, and she felt quite brave at the moment. So she'll let that tiny piece of courage inside her stop hiding for just one second. "Let's hold hands."

Takane could almost _hear_ Haruka's surprised expression, and she couldn't really blame him. She was a little astonished by her own words, completely lacking hesitation and sounding firm, something she'd never expect from her mouth. Regardless Haruka's reply, Takane was actually proud of herself.  
She suddenly felt her throat dry and her breath stopping for a moment, when she felt his hand finally taking hers in a shy and hesitating motion. The sun continued to decline throughout the sky, painting the classroom with its orange light as the silence descended on two speechless classmates.

"Is it really okay?" he finally asked with a small voice, and she dared to look at him over her shoulder, becoming surprised at the sight of her embarrassed classmate. Haruka's eyes met with hers after brief seconds, and neither of them looked away. "If you don't want to, um–"

"Why wouldn't I want to, if I was the one who specifically asked to in the first place?" Takane said, thinking she didn't exactly _asked_ , and her _'let's hold hands'_ sounded more likely to a demand than anything.

Her words seemed to have encouraged him though, and his smile only grew when he walked closer, firmly squeezing her hand wrapped with his. She turned her head to the other side, to not let him see the little smile she didn't feel like avoiding.

 _We're such a cliché._

"Okay, let's go home, Takane!"

It's okay if everyone thinks of them as a couple. Haruka and Takane sometimes think so too.


End file.
